National football promotion in China:Opportunities and challenges in public health

Jincheng Xu，Cn Go，Jiexiu Zho，*

aSport Biological Center，China Institute of Sport Science，Beijing 100061，ChinabSports Hospital，National Institute of Sports Medicine，Beijing 100061，China Received 25 March 2016；accepted 6 April 2016 Available online 19 April 2016



National football promotion in China:Opportunities and challenges in public health

Jincheng Xua，Can Gaob，Jiexiu Zhaoa，*

aSport Biological Center，China Institute of Sport Science，Beijing 100061，ChinabSports Hospital，National Institute of Sports Medicine，Beijing 100061，China Received 25 March 2016；accepted 6 April 2016 Available online 19 April 2016

Dear editor，

In 2015，a national reform plan was implemented by the central government that covers not only professional clubs and leagues but also campus and grassroots football，to develop football（soccer）in China.1According to the plan of China’s Ministry of Education（MOE），2football will be nationally promoted among school students and youth.Furthermore，MOE plans to select 20，000 primary or middle schools in which the sport would have been promoted by 2020.Then，this number would be increased to 50，000 by 2025.

Given the obvious health benefits of football，3such as improvements in cardiovascular function，body composition，bone mass and bone mineral density，and functional capacity，national football promotion in schools can help improve the physical fitness and health of Chinese children and adolescents. The 2014 Report on National Fitness Survey released in November of 2015 indicated that obesity in Chinese children and adolescents continues to rise.4Thus，this national football promotion can eventually play an important role in obesity control among Chinese school students with the aforementioned benefits of football on body composition.

Despite its health benefits，football，as a contact sport，also has a certain injury risk.The overall injury incidence reported in children and adolescents ranged from 2 to 7 injuries per 1000 h of football for those aged 13-19，whereas the data in younger children were sparse.5To our knowledge，up until now，only 1 study reported that injury incidence was 0.61 injuries per 1000 h of football during training and 4.57 during matches in children aged 7-12.6This potential injury incidence combined with the huge base number of 50，000 schools that will be selected to promote football in China by 2025 can lead to socioeconomic and public health consequences without proper health care.Well-organized injury prevention and education programs can significantly reduce football injuries in children and adolescents.7However，the authors believe that studies on these programs have been lacking thus far in China.

Children and adolescents are the future of society，and their health should be given particular attention.Therefore，Chinese healthcare providers，sports scientists，and relevant institutes should be actively involved in this national football promotion activity and should closely cooperate with government departments to help Chinese children and adolescents gain maximal fitness or health benefits while reducing injury or health risk to minimum.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by General Administration of Sport of China（No.2015B050）and the National Natural Science Foundation of China（No.31371195）.

Authors’contributions

JX conceived of the study and its design，obtained research grants for this study，and drafted the manuscript.JZ helped to conceive of the study and its design，obtained research grants for this study，and helped to draft the manuscript.CG participated in the design of this study and helped to draft the manuscript.All authorshavereadandapprovedthefinalversionofthemanuscript，and agree with the order of presentation of the authors.

Competing interests

None of the authors declare competing financial interests.

References

1.General Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. Notice of the General Office of the State Council on issuing the overall plan for Chinese football reform and development.Available at:http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2015-03/16/content_9537.htm；2015 ［accessed 22.04.2016］.［in Chinese］.

2.Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China.Implementation opinions of Ministry of Education and other five departments onaccelerating thedevelopmentofyouth campusfootball.Available at:http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A17/moe_938/s3273/201508/t20150811 _199309.html；2015［accessed 22.04.2016］.［in Chinese］.

3.Bangsbo J，Hansen PR，Dvorak J，Krustrup P.Recreational football for disease prevention and treatment in untrained men:a narrative review examining cardiovascular health，lipid profile，body composition，muscle strength and functional capacity.Br J Sports Med 2015；49:568-76.

4.GeneralAdministration of Sport of China.The 2014 Report on NationalFitnessSurvey.Available at:http://www.sport.gov.cn/ n315/n329/c216784/content.html； 2015 ［accessed 13.04.2016］. ［in Chinese］.

5.Faude O，Rossler R，Junge A.Football injuries in children and adolescent players:are there clues for prevention？Sports Med 2013；43:819-37.

6.Rössler R，Junge A，Chomiak J，Dvorak J，Faude O.Soccer injuries in players aged 7 to 12 years:a descriptive epidemiological study over 2 seasons.Am J Sports Med 2016；44:309-17.

7.Bizzini M，Dvorak J.FIFA 11+:an effective programme to prevent football injuries in various player groups worldwide—a narrative review.Br J Sports Med 2015；49:577-9.

Peer review under responsibility of Shanghai University of Sport. *Corresponding author.

E-mail address:zhaojiexiu@ciss.cn（J.Zhao）

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2016.04.006

2095-2546/©2016 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Shanghai University of Sport.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license（http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/）.